Sig Christenson: Symbols of pride and angst

The Army this morning has three new battle streamers on its flag. Two are for ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism.

The other, for Iraq, raises a bothersome question I tried to answer last week at Fort Sam Houston. It remains only partially answered, I’m sorry to say.

Perhaps you can help settle the matter, but first let me give you a quick tutorial on battle streamers. Long and colorful strips of fabric, battle streamers have the look of dreadlocks when all 178 of them adorn the Army flag. They’re significant symbols in the Army, representing conflicts from the Revolutionary War to Kosovo, and are a source of reflection and pride for folks I met at Fort Sam.

Behind every streamer is the blood of American soldiers spilled, the final moments of countless lives consumed by fear, anger and sheer terror, of lives forever transformed.

“The battle streamers represent sacrifice,” said Pamela Ellis, a 40-year-old San Antonio veteran. “And it’s not only the sacrifice of life, but it’s the sacrifice of giving up part of your freedom so that others may have freedom.”

I went to Fort Sam’s historic Quadrangle last Wednesday, as the Army marked its 231st birthday, batting around this issue: How do we as a people reconcile the fact that as soldiers and patriotic Americans hail the addition of these three new streamers as a continuation of eternal vigilance and sacrifice, other patriots may well see the one for Iraq as a symbol of blunder and tragedy?

In short, can opponents of this conflict cheer the streamer and join those who see it as a symbol of goodness without cheerleading a war they detest?

“I don’t know if they can be reconciled by everybody,” said Edward Heath, a 67-year-old Fair Oaks Ranch consultant who wore the uniform of a two-star general on George Washington’s wartime staff for the Quadrangle ceremony.

“Those streamers were bravely worn by our soldiers, and they should be proud of them,” he added. “When our country decides — and I’m talking about the leaders of our country — that we would be involved in a conflict, an armed conflict, then we should support our soldiers, no matter where they go.”

Said Ellis: “I reconcile it with the idea that the United States is a country blessed with political freedoms, unlike so many other countries, and for me as a former soldier you are committed to your leaders and the protection of this nation.”

Iraq has become bitterly contested at home. That controversy has grown as reporters and authors have delved into the origins of the conflict. Allegations that President Bush and his advisers cherry-picked the intelligence, misled the American people and failed to do their homework on Iraq and its people will forever shadow the history of Gulf War II.

There’s also no question that a majority of Americans believe the war is a mistake and that a growing number of them want to get out of Iraq, soon if not this very minute.

Whether it is wise for us to pull out of Iraq today, in six months or six more years will be a matter of conjecture and, ultimately, a judgment of history. But then there’s the impact Iraq is having on our military, its readiness now and in the future, and on our soldiers.

What happens if people someday say Iraq is Vietnam? Do the soldiers take the fall?

They did 33 years ago.

“Obviously there are other opinions, and a lot of them have to do with politics because we are in a very political time. But I think that politicians, as well as those people that are very strong in their opinion, should put that aside and support our soldiers 100 percent,” said Heath, who joined the Army right after graduating from Rio Grande City High School in 1957 and spent the next 61/2 years on active duty.

“I think that people just want to take the easy way out sometimes and they don’t want to stop and think because they’re not the ones over there fighting for our freedom,” said Army Pfc. Chatney Smith, 17, of Blacksburg, S.C. “They’re the ones that go to work every day and see the bad stuff … they show on the (TV) news or is posted in the newspaper. But if they ever took a step to look deep into what we were really fighting for, then maybe they would learn to respect and be proud of it just as the soldiers are.”

Each war has at least one streamer. Those that are longer have more streamers. World War II has 38 — yellow and red for Asia, brown and green for Europe, and red, white and blue for the United States. Vietnam has 17 red, yellow and green ribbons.

Kosovo, the 175th conflict, has a single black, red and white streamer.

The solitary streamer for Iraq was placed on the Army flag last Thursday. Those opposed to the war fear it could run much longer with no good coming from it. If that happened, we might see two or three streamers representing various campaigns.

Foes of the war could end up seeing those streamers very differently from the troops at Fort Sam, who view the war in Iraq as America’s opportunity to spread freedom.

That anyway, is how every soldier I interviewed felt. No one in the crowd at last week’s Army birthday party criticized the war or the leaders who have waged it.

But Lt. Gen. Robert T. Clark, commander of U.S. Army North at Fort Sam, noted that no American war has been universally supported. He reminded me of the history of the Revolution, where many Southerners were loyal to King George III.

He was thinking of a conflict even closer to home.

“We fought one that was a civil war in which we were divided with substantial controversy within those two divisions,” Clark said. “So a battle streamer represents what the Army has done, a campaign the Army has participated in and the accomplishments the soldiers have made as part of that campaign. And yes, there are dissenters about this war. I personally believe that in the long run this war will prove itself to have been a most meaningful moment in history.”

The man who put the streamers on the Army’s flag, Sgt. Maj. Charles Griffin, had another way of saying the same thing.

“For somebody who has never been to Iraq or Afghanistan and has never served over there, you can sort of understand why maybe they have the perceptions and feelings they have about the war. They really don’t get the up-front, close and personal picture of how we’re helping the people of Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Griffin, a veteran of the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam.

“They haven’t seen the child who comes up to you and gives you a hug or a little flower and says thank you for trying to make their life better. They don’t have to go out and go get water every day to bring it in. All they have to do is turn their water faucet on and it runs for them freely. So I’m in a position where I am honored and feel privileged to be able to go help another people.”